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Petraeus Case Triggers Concerns About Americans' Online Privacy

CIS Director of Civil Liberties, Jennifer Granick, spoke with the Los Angeles Times' Jessica Guynn on ways in which the government can access your email legally.

If the director of the CIA cannot keep the FBI from rummaging through his private Gmail account, what digital privacy protections do ordinary citizens have?

Precious few, say privacy advocates. As the law stands now, law enforcement can secretly gain access to people's email, often without a search warrant.

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Currently the government doesn't need a search warrant -- just a subpoena -- to access emails stored longer than 180 days, said Jennifer Granick, director of civil liberties for the Stanford Law School Center for Internet and Society.